Leadership Team

Megan is a Plant Ecologist with the City of Boulder’s Open Space and Mountain Parks Department where she oversees the department’s Ecological Restoration Program. To support the department’s restoration work, Megan, along with other OSMP colleagues, established an on-site native plant nursery that houses several hundred shrubs and herbaceous plugs, organizes native seed collections, and manages both grass and forb contract increase grows with USDA Native Plant Materials Centers and private growers. Megan also leads vegetation community mapping across the department’s 45 thousand forest and grassland acres. Megan first became involved in the SRSN as a participant and later Chair of the Technical Advisory Committee. Megan is excited to build relationships with a variety of growers and advance the SRSN Strategic Seed Network.

Kristina Hufford is an Associate Professor at the University of Wyoming.  She works in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management, located in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.  Her research focuses on restoration ecology and she studies spatial and temporal patterns of selection in plant populations using techniques in field ecology, molecular genetics and bioinformatics. Kristina is very interested in questions related to seed sourcing in ecological restoration and she has been part of the Southern Rockies Seed Network for several years. Bridging the gap between research and practice, such as choosing the right plant species for revegetation, is a critical need to restore the environment.

After earning a B.S. from Colorado State University in Parks and Protected Areas Management, Jim has worked in the public sector at various city and county open space programs since 2006. Since 2011, he has served as the Natural Resources Specialist for the City of Longmont.  Jim has been involved with many aspects of open space management from integrated weed management, wildlife management, restoration of uplands, wetlands, and riparian areas, seed collection, plant propagation, and volunteer coordination.  Jim is recognized by the Society for Ecological Restoration as Certified Ecological Restoration Practitioner.  In his free time, Jim enjoys hiking, camping, skiing, and cheering on the Chicago Cubs.

Becky has been the wetland program manager for the Colorado Department of Transportation for 17 years. Her work consists of both project field work and statewide program responsibilities. Prior to working at CDOT she received a BS in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation from the University of Florida and worked in consulting as an environmental scientist for four years. Becky spends most of her free time outside playing with her husband and dog, gardening, cooking, and traveling as much as possible.

Courtlyn grew up in western Colorado where she took full advantage of abundant opportunities to spend time outdoors hiking, biking, and skiing. Her love of the outdoors and concern for the environment led her to get her M.S. in environmental engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder. After getting her degree, Courtlyn held a two-year contract with the USGS where she researched dissolved carbon exports from a variety of wetlands.

In addition to her environmental interests, Courtlyn has a passion for nonprofit work. In 2016, she co-founded a nonprofit called BridgeUSA that engages college students with differing political viewpoints in virtuous discourse. Additionally, she serves on the Board of Directors for UpRoot Colorado, an agricultural nonprofit working to reduce surplus nutrient-dense foods across the state. In her free time, Courtlyn enjoys climbing, running, gardening, and playing cello in the Colorado-based folk band Sturtz.

John’s drive to continually improve the science and practice of ecological restoration grows out of a passion for conserving natural resources. Plants are a passion, as well as amphibians and reptiles. Since 1996 John has provided a broad range of natural resource services to local, state, and federal agencies, private and non-profit clients to restore riparian, wetland, and upland habitats from the peaks to the prairies.

John’s experience includes developing seed mixes and plant palettes, soil amendment & surface protection specs, erosion control, sourcing weed-free materials, and developing and delivering restoration curricula. He has also been involved in watershed-scale restoration and stakeholder engagement efforts following the 2012 High Park Fire and 2013 Front Range Floods. In 2014, John helped to establish the Southern Rockies Seed Network, a partnership of federal, state, local, and private agencies, to develop ecotypic seed and container stock for use in restoration throughout Colorado and Wyoming. Since 2013 John has been developing a design system for restoration hydroseres (plant establishment zones) within riparian and wetland systems, and he continues to refine a revegetation matrix for Colorado.  So much to learn, so little time. In 2017, John joined the seminal cohort of Certified Ecological Restoration Practitioners, a certification administered by the Society for Ecological Restoration.

Since 1997, Alex has been the co-owner and operator of Western Native Seed along with his wife Suzanne.  Their company supplies native cultivars and wild harvested seed for residential, business, non-profit and governmental re-vegetation projects.  They have designed mixes for many of these projects. They have also wild harvested seed of hundreds of species from the plains to the alpine, from wetland to upland and from grasses, sedges and forbs to trees and shrubs. They have also collected seed for various entities’ seed increase projects furthering the supply of local ecotype seed. However, wild harvesting seed is and should be limited in scope and is not able to supply all local ecotype seed needed for current demand or for increasing future needs. By joining the board, Alex hopes to assist the Southern Rockies Seed Network’s efforts to increase the supply of local ecotype seed through seed increase projects.

Mindy is the Conservation Services Manager for the Colorado State Land Board. She develops and implements a range of stewardship plans and programs that promote responsible stewardship of natural values and protection of threatened species and ecosystems on the agency’s 2.8 million acres of state trust land. Mindy also manages the agency’s ecosystem services program that involves restoration of degraded wetlands, streams, and wildlife habitat through commercial mitigation and conservation banks, as well as voluntary habitat enhancement projects on state trust lands. Mindy’s involvement with the SRSN began with her interest in utilizing seed sources native to Colorado to restore degraded lands.

Mindy previously worked for the Santa Barbara (CA) County Public Works Department, the NJ State Farmland Preservation Program, and Burlington County (NJ) where she helped develop municipal Transfer of Development Rights programs. Mindy has degrees in Environmental Management and City and Regional Planning, both from Rutgers University.

Carrie is a plant ecologist and volunteer coordinator with Boulder County Parks & Open Space where she has hosted over 250 volunteer projects and has collected 1,500+ pounds of native seed for restoration throughout Boulder County. Carrie also co-manages a ¼ acre seed increase garden aimed at producing local, ecotypic native seed material for use in restoration. In addition to working with volunteers, Carrie has held key roles on flood recovery/stream restoration projects and is contributing to wildfire recovery efforts at Heil Valley Ranch. Carrie serves on several committees within and outside of Parks & Open Space and began working with SRSN as a member of the Technical Advisory Committee and joined the SRSN Board of directors in 2021.